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With the National Transformation 2050 (TN50) in
place and the aim for Malaysia to be among the top
20 countries in the world, the Malaysian government is
driving initiatives under five key focus areas - Society,
Environment, Economy, Technology & Connectivity
and Governance.
Under the focus area of Technology & Connectivity, we
are already seeing exponential explosion in internet
bandwidth, processing power and digital storage
capacity in recent years. There is a rise of broadband
and mobile connectivity, Internet of Things (IoT),
robotics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Labs and
companies are producing machines and/or software
with increasing human-like capabilities. There are
also emerging developments for example, ‘smart
cities’ where sensors, information and technology are
integrated to meet the needs of the population.1
This paper explores the central role of leaders in the
digital sustainability journey, setting out the traits,
competencies and drivers necessary to becoming a
great digital leader.
Digital transformation is expected to contribute
US$10 billion to Malaysia’s gross domestic product
(GDP) by 2021, and increase the growth by 0.6 per
cent annually, according to a joint business study by
Microsoft and IDC Asia Pacific. The study predicts a
dramatic acceleration in pace of digital transformation
across Asia’s economies. In 2017, about seven per cent
of Malaysia’s GDP was derived from digital products
and services created directly through the use of digital
technologies, such as mobility, cloud, Internet of
Things (IoT), and artificial intelligence (AI).2
According to Bank Negara Malaysia (The Central Bank
of Malaysia), the Malaysian economy grew by 5.9 per
cent in 2017, with private sector demand being the
primary driver of growth; while the outlook for 2018
remains favourable, supported by domestic demand.3
1
Introduction
| Digital leadership in Malaysia |
“The Malaysian economy
is growing steadily and to
drive and sustain digital
transformation initiatives,
government and organisations
need to urgently look at
developing digital talent and
especially digital leaders to
ensure success in the
Future of Work. ”
Mohammad Iesa Morshidi
Senior Principal, Korn Ferry Hay Group, Malaysia
1 https://mytn50.com/?language=eng2 https://news.microsoft.com/en-my/2018/02/06/digital-transformation-contribute-us10-billion-malaysia-gdp-2021/ 3 https://www.nst.com.my/business/2018/02/335373/msian-economy-grew-healthy-59pct-2017-bank-negara
Great digital leaders are flexible and inclusive,
responding seamlessly to the push-and-pull priorities of
the digital environment.
Drawing on the Korn Ferry Four Dimensions of Leadership
and the Korn Ferry Assessment of Leadership Potential,
we analysed the traits, competencies and drivers of
more than 500 digital leaders, and compared them
against population norms from our 4.5 million data point
assessment database to create a distinctive profile of the
qualities needed for the digital age.
Together, these characteristics describe a leader who is
people-centric, not tech-centric. They’re humble leaders
who are innately comfortable in dealing with risk in
unstructured and ambiguous environments. Combined
with strong situational and emotional awareness, these
qualities allow them to step back and empower their
people to test ideas; to succeed or fail and change
direction as the conditions require. Critically, they
create a supportive and focused environment for their
people through engaging and inspiring them in a strong
future vision and keeping a continued eye on driving for
results.
2
What do great digital leaders look like?
| Digital leadership in Malaysia |
The unique characteristics of high-performing digital leaders
© Korn Ferry Institute 2018. All rights reserved.
Korn Ferry research indicates that leaders across
APAC including Malaysian leaders are not yet
digital-ready and risk derailing digital sustainability
initiatives by perpetuating legacy ways of working.
We also hear from many leaders who understand
the need for change, but are struggling to balance
performance expectations today, while innovating for
the future.
The fact is, according to Korn Ferry’s digital
sustainability research, failure to act now risks the
future success of the business and has real and
quantifiable bottom-line impact.
The research also pinpoints people as the lynchpin of
digital sustainability. The role of leaders in activating
people to support change can’t be underestimated.
But first, leaders must personally transform in order
to inspire and engage their people and create a
more open, agile and networked culture to power
performance.
Korn Ferry’s DSI research quantifies the
compelling commercial advantages of
digital sustainability:
The index proves that high performers
in the dimensions of sustainable
transformation see a 5.6 percentage point
increase in profit margin (earnings before
interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation
— EBITDA) versus the low performers.
People are the key to unlocking these
benefits; the DSI dimensions describe the
essential organisational conditions but
great digital leaders must operationalise
them for success.
Download the report here:
http://engage.kornferry.com/digital-
sustainability-kfhome
3
The digital leadership imperative
| Digital leadership in Malaysia |
| Digital leadership in Malaysia |
Malaysian Leaders vs global digital benchmark
TRAITS
DRIVERS
COMPETENCIES
Most SoughtDigital Leaders
Typical Malaysian Leaders
Korn Ferry’s analysis suggests Malaysian leaders need
to embrace a radical mindset shift to enable real and
sustainable digital change within their organisations.
This isn’t about bringing in people with specialised
digital or technical skills - the very role of leader in the
digital age is changing.
While our analysis indicates there are significant gaps
between Malaysian leaders and the great digital leader
archetype, high performing leaders in Malaysia show
fewer gaps, so change is possible. To find the energy to
confront the change required, Malaysian leaders need
to engage their strong capacity for self-development
and embrace the challenge to fundamentally shift their
thinking on the role of leader.
Malaysian leaders should also build on their innate
confidence to expand their leadership capacity.
Currently, their strong preference for structure suggests
the confidence of Malaysian leaders is restricted to
operating in process-driven environments with a high-
degree of certainty. Leaders will need to find ways to
unlock their confidence in more ambiguous situations
to enable them to become more adaptable, curious and
take more risks in the face of uncertainty.
Culturally, a strong adherence to hierarchy and lack
of open communication is inhibiting leaders’ ability to
engage and inspire their people and empower their
teams to create novel and breakthrough solutions.
Leaders need to adopt a more humble and approachable
style to invite their people to contribute opinions and
ideas. Building connectivity both inside and outside of
the organisation will assist leaders to guide their teams
and create an engaging vision for the future.
The need to change
4
© Korn Ferry Institute 2018. All rights reserved.Based on Korn Ferry Assessment data.
| Digital leadership in Asia Pacific |
Don’t do everything at once. Instead, take time to diagnose
the critical leadership circuit breaker in your organisation.
Create opportunities to clear this blockage first and build
from there. This could involve finding ways to introduce
aspects of a fail-fast culture to give leaders the opportunity
to make mistakes without retribution and expand their
confidence in riskier, less-certain environments.
5
1. Prioritise The rapid pace of change in
the digital age fundamentally
challenges how Malaysian
leaders conceptualise and
execute their role. Relying on
direct, hierarchical power and
structured processes to deliver
defined profits will no longer
work in an environment that
disdains structure and rewards
novel thinking. Malaysian
leaders need to see this change
not as a threat, but as an
opportunity and embrace a
new vision of leadership.
Mohammad Iesa Morshidi
Senior Principal
Korn Ferry Hay Group, Malaysia
Three ways to kickstart the shift to a digital mindset
While working with existing leaders, start investing in
the next generation. Develop a holistic talent strategy,
supported by assessments and success profiles, to engage
internal and external talent in the vision for the organisation
and how they can contribute to it.
2. Start recruiting and developing the mindset
Many of the challenges facing Malaysian leaders have their
roots in cultural norms which are difficult to shift. Actively
creating symbols of change that align to the organisation’s
goals will help address this. This might mean creating
opportunities to open up hierarchies by using new channels
of communication between leaders and employees through
collaborative software and encouraging leaders to openly
discuss both successes and mistakes.
3. Create and align symbols of change
Find out more
Download our whitepaper on
‘Digital Leadership in Asia Pacific’
http://focus.kornferry.com/digital-leadership
© Korn Ferry 2018. All rights reserved.
About Korn FerryKorn Ferry is a global organisational consulting firm. We help companies
design their organisation—the structure, the roles and responsibilities,
as well as how they compensate, develop and motivate their people.
As importantly, we help organisations select and hire the talent they
need to execute their strategy. Our approximately 7,000 colleagues
serve clients in more than 50 countries.
About The Korn Ferry InstituteThe Korn Ferry Institute, our research and analytics arm, was
established to share intelligence and expert points of view on talent
and leadership. Through studies, books, and a quarterly magazine,
Briefings, we aim to increase understanding of how strategic talent
decisions contribute to competitive advantage, growth, and success.
Visit kornferryinstitute.com for more information.